Jay's Surprise
by Charlie Grayson
Summary: "Four AM was the time on the clock when Jason crawled home. So many things sounded good in that exact moment, but there was one thing in particular that did not sound good. That thing was his emergency Bat communicator." Just a late fic for Jay's birthday a few days ago! Because I love him and he deserves all the love. T for EXTREMELY SLIGHT language I guess?


Four AM was the time showing on the clock on the microwave when Jason crawled in the window and slumped against the couch. He threw his jacket across the floor and barely heard when the leather hit the hardwood floor and landed in a dark, smoky mess. He rubbed a hand across his face in a fruitless attempt to wipe away the filth. His skin was covered in soot and sweat and even a little bit of blood. Tonight had been a roller coaster. Not the kind that has safety precautions; more like the kind that you got on thinking there were safety precautions and then it flies off the rails mid-loop.

Suffice to say Jason Todd was _extremely_ exhausted.

So many things sounded good in that exact moment. He could take a warm shower, then curl up in his sweat pants under a fuzzy blanket and just enjoy being cozy until he finally fell asleep. Passing out right there on the couch because quite frankly the idea of moving at all sounded god awful. Walking to the kitchen and make himself a drink, and drink himself blind for the night (or morning, as it so happens.)

There was one particular thing that did _**not**_ sound good right now, however. That particular thing was his emergency Batman communicator.

For the past couple of months, Jason had been on better terms with the rest of the Bat-Clan. He'd been trying to play by their rules and help however and whenever he could. So a few months ago, Bruce had bestowed upon Jason the honor of an emergency Bat communicator. It was not designed for talking. It was more like a pager, really. Whenever it went off, an image and a number describing what kind of emergency would flash across the screen and it would play this horrific fucking tune that Jason could not stand. However, not once in the few months that Jason had possessed this pager had it gone off. Not for any reason whatsoever, nor had he used it. But now it was playing that horrific three note tune.

This was the tune that broke the blissful silence Jason had been craving since he put on his helmet and set out on a mission that night. He looked at the pager, noticing the Bat and the numbers flashing beneath it. 181620. Someone in the Batcave had issued a state of emergency.

Jason groaned in displeasure, looking at the flashing Bat on the screen. Getting up in this moment was probably the worst thing he'd ever done.

And yes, that included dying.

But his makeshift family was at stake, and he found he didn't have much of a chance. He figured he'd give himself exactly five seconds to bitch in his head about it before he went to assist the cave.

 _5_

Running to the Cave would be about 30 minutes.

 _4_

But if his bike was only three blocks away in the garage complex.

 _3_

That should shave about 10 minutes off his journey.

 _2_

He jumped off the couch, grabbing his helmet and his leather jacket from the dark heap it had made on the floor. Securing both on his body as he approached the window, he turned to look longingly at the couch. Then his gaze turned downwards towards the communicator in his hand, still flashing the numbers and the Batsignal.

 _1_

Jason leapt from the window, firing his grapple and flying across the street towards his garage. 

_************LINE BREAKER!************_

An engine roared as it went full throttle traveling across the only asphalt in miles of land. The wind picked up and carried Jason's leather jacket as he moved through the atmosphere at full speed, hurrying to aid in the emergency. Within the confines of his mind, he was racing to and from various tings that could've happened. Perhaps Bruce had gone missing again, or perhaps there was more news of another Robin death, perhaps a serious injury. The Cave or Manor could be under attack, or something could've happened to Alfred. Bruce's identity could've been compromised, which would've compromised everyone's identities (although Jason was legally dead so it wasn't likely they would've called him for that one).

He decided it was best not to even think about all the possibilities. There could've been a fire fight at the Cave and Jason would never know. Regardless of what he was walking into, he knew his head would serve him better if it was clear. The last thing he needed was to be distracted during an ambush where he could be the only one fighting.

Pressing a button on his utility belt, he activated the secret entrance for the Batcave in the waterfall a few miles away from the Manor. The rock was barely lifted enough for him to squeeze through if he ducked, but he had no intentions of slowing down.

The first thing Jason noticed was that the lights that normally lit the byway were shut off. All of them. They were always lit so that you wouldn't get lost in the caves, but now they were off. The only light on the path was the headlight to Jason's bike as he advanced towards the main cave. Only a few miles away, he hoped he'd get there in time.

In time to do what? Who knows.

But _something_ had to happen. _Something_ could've been happening right now. In fact, _something_ was most likely happening right now. But Jason couldn't think about that. He had a full magazine and as his anxiety grew his exhaustion shrank.

He reached the garage of the cave and realized that they byway wasn't the only thing that was unlit. All the lights that normally illuminated the layer of the Batman were not there, nor was the usual noises. No sounds of battle training, no whir of the massive computer, no tools clanking underneath the hood of the Batmobile. Complete silence, excusing the purr of Jason's bike.

Jason shut the bike off and climbed off, his hand moving to his side and pulling out his sidearm. His movements were slow, straining his eyes and ears for any sign of movement. The pitch black made it impossible to see anything, and nothing met his ears except silence.

However, in the recent months, he had made a few upgrades to his suit.

More specifically: to his helmet.

He slowly reached up to the button on the side of his mask which activates the comm. Pressing it twice, he activated the infrared lenses. There was a small click as the new lenses slid into place and switched on, and then a brief moment before the blackness of the cave was illuminated with heat signatures. Jason found that he was completely surrounded on all sides. There were at least ten orange blobs surrounding him, watching and not moving, most likely thinking that they were concealed in the shadows.

Jason continued to move slowly, preying on the assumption that these creatures didn't know he could see them. They were arranged in a semicircle around him, the largest one among them slightly off center from this semicircle. He debated between attacking this one first, or the brightest heat signature, which was not orange but bright red all the way through. Deciding on the large one, he raised his weapon and took aim.

However, just as his index finger wrapped around the trigger, all the lights turned on and the orange blobs leaped up, taking Jason by completely surprise.

 _ **"SURPRISE!"**_

He almost pulled the trigger purely out of shock, but instead he undid his helmet and removed it, to better survey the situation. Now that the lights were on, the orange blobs turned out to be vigilantes, standing in their civilian clothes surrounding him. Roy, Kori, Barbara, Steph, Cass, Tim, Dick, Bruce, Kate, Alfred, Damian.

Jason's mouth hung open, confusion and surprise overtaking him completely. "What the hell is this?!" He shouted, looking around at his 'attackers' once more. Stunned was understating how he felt at this moment. There was no emergency, why had the emergency broadcast been used? Why was everyone here in civilian clothes trying to prank him? None of this made sense.

"Hey, Jaybird, could you put the weapons away," Roy said sheepishly. That's when the realization that Jason's arm was still raised with a loaded weapon in his hands. He looked down the sights, straight into Bruce's chest. "It'd be rude to kill the host of the party, ya know."

Still befuddled, Jason placed the sidearm back in its holster and moved backwards to his bike. "Party?" he asked, placing his helmet on the seat of the bike and tearing off his domino mask, revealing the only strip of his skin which was not filthy. The contrast was exquisite, but no one said anything at this exact moment.

Dick stepped toward him. He wasn't wearing just his average clothes; he was 'formal casual' (something Jason was _pretty_ sure Dick made up). A faded blue V-neck and some white khakis, and he looked like a total dork. Jason made a mental note to make fun of his brother's outfit later when his surroundings were more clear. "Yeah, Jay. Did you really think we wouldn't do anything this year?" He placed a hand on Jason's shoulder and another on his hip in a veru matter-of-fact way. "You can't tell me you had no idea."

Jason scowled, shrugging Dick's hand off his shoulder. "I didn't," he said briskly. "Still don't. Why did you use the emergency signal? Why am I here? It's like 4:30 AM guys."

Damian, in his usual black turtle neck and slacks and scowl, had his arms crossed across his prepubescent chest. "Figures," he scoffed. "It's no wonder no one thinks of you as the _smartest_ Robin."

"Damian," Bruce said in his 'dad tone' (another phrase coined by Dick Grayson). "Be nice." That was a first.

Rolling his eyes, Damian sneered. Although he did shut up. That, too, was a first, and a much more remarkable one. Roy approached Jason where he stood next to Dick, leaning on his bike. "Silly Jaybird," he said, light-hearted teasing in his tone. "Forgot his own birthday." He swung his arm around his best friend's shoulders, the leather cold beneath his bicep.

Jason narrowed his eyes as his brows knit tightly together, then his eyes widened in disbelief. "Today can't be my birthday," he said with absolute certainty. "My birthday is in August."

Tim, who was (of course) wearing a sweater vest, piped in at this time. "As of," he checked his watch. "Four hours and twenty-six minutes ago, it was August 16th."

Well, shit. Okay maybe it was Jason's birthday. Dick chuckled at the way Jason's eyebrows rose as he came to this conclusion. Then suddenly his face steeled and he was grumpy once more. "Shut up," was all that he said. Everyone got a few laughs out of that one. Jason shrugged Roy off his shoulder and took his leather jacket off. "Laugh all you want, but realize that I was this close to killing Bruce," He said as he held up his hand, his fingers barely apart. "Like was this really worth an emergency distress signal? What the hell guys."

"Of course it was," Barbara said, approaching Jason with a plate in her hands. "You were in dire need of birthday cake and you know it."

He looked at the plate and saw the perfectly cut piece of chocolate heaven that awaited him. It was chocolate with buttercream frosting, he could just _tell_ (also there was no way in hell Roy, Barbara, or Dick would've let Bruce get anything **but** his favorite kind of cake). "I don't even get to blow out my own candles?" he said taking the cake. Before he saw it, he hadn't realized just how hungry he was. His exhaustion had overcome the hunger, but the recent burst of adrenaline had sufficed to wake him up.

As Jason shoveled cake into his mouth, Barbara rested her arm on his shoulder. Being the third person in a span of two minutes who had tried leaning on him, Jason decided it wasn't worth it to shrug them off anymore and just let it be. "You hate blowing out candles, Jason, shut up." Barbara was wearing her purple tank top and black jeans, her curled hair pulled back in a ponytail. She looked the most casual out of the whole bunch, minus Stephanie and Roy of course, who rarely dressed up for anything.

"Not that I don't totally appreciate the party, or whatever," Jason spoke around two forkfuls of cake. "But I'm insanely tired. It's been a long day."

"You can't leave without opening your gifts, Master Jason," Alfred said. He pulled forth a small cart that was covered in boxes of assorted shape and colors, one bag and one envelope. Jason could make a pretty safe bet as to who got him which gift, purely based on how it was wrapped and what color it was.

He rolled his eyes, devouring the last of his slice of cake and gesturing Alfred to push the cart towards him.

The first present he spots is the bag. It's blue with black with blue paper on the inside. "Dick," he said, pointing to it. Dick blushed a bit and shrugged, mumbling something about his favorite colors. Nonetheless, Jason picked it up and began pulling paper out and placing it down on the cart. The bag was pretty heavy, and if Jason was being honest he had no idea what Dick had gotten him. "Oh, fuckin' sweet!" Jason said as he pulled the last of the tissue paper out and looked at the gift.

"What is it?" Bruce coaxed.

Jason pulled out two books and a small tube of cream of some sort. "Two books and some helmet shine," he said. "Which is nice because I'm actually out of both."

Dick had a look on his face as though his gifts couldn't be beat and they were the best and he was so proud of himself. He had his hands on his hips and a smug grin plastered on his face. "What books are they?" Cass asked.

Looking down, Jason read the titles aloud. "Uh, one is called _Where the Bodies Were_ and one is called _Crime Scene Dynamics._ They were published this year so I haven't even heard of them yet." Jason was trying not to smile, but in reality he was full of excitement. There were few things he enjoyed more than reading on his nights off.

Without actually saying thank you, Jason placed the gifts back into the bag and reached for the next present. A thin box wrapped in purple. "Stephanie, I can't possibly imagine what you got me," he said dryly.

"Shut up and open your damn gift, Todd. You always love it, I don't see why you're complaining," she said, crossing her arms across her jean jacket. She had her hair up in a messy bun, with little strands falling into her face in the most adorable way imaginable.

Jason grinned. "Not complaining, just saying it's the same gift every damn year." He had to speak over the sound of paper tearing as he ripped the wrapping paper to shreds. Opening the box, he revealed that he was right and, as always, Stephanie had gotten him several scarves for his birthday. "Oh you went with a different color scheme this time," he mentioned.

Dick looked slightly baffled. "She always gets him scarves. No matter what holiday, if she gets him a gift its scarves," Roy whispered to him.

"But Jason doesn't wear scarves…" Dick said, even more confused than he previously was. He was right. Jason had only ever been seen wearing a scarf once and it was for an undercover mission, and he complained the entire time.

Roy grinned. "He keeps them though. Every single one."

The undead vigilante held up four scarves of various colors; dark green, baby blue, bright red, pale orange. "You haven't given me an orange one yet," he said, nodding his head in approval.

Stephanie smiled, accepting the phrase as both a compliment and a thank you as Jason moved on to his next gift. This one was a big box wrapped in bright green. It took him a moment, but finally he said "Alfred?" and the elderly man nodded with a warm smile on his face. "You didn't have to get me anything, Al." But Alfred stayed silent as Jason opened his gift. He always looked forward to Alfred's gifts, they were usually the most thoughtful and strange.

Within the box was a new leather jacket. He held it up, his face shining with admiration. "Dude this is awesome. It's perfect!" It was black leather, with none of the extra straps that he hated on most leather jackets. It had two huge inside pockets and it felt slightly heavier than his current leather jacket, which was charred and burnt from his night out. "Did you modify this?"

Alfred nodded. "Added some bulletproof reinforcements, tailored it to your most recent measurements, and added some pockets within the jacket, sir." His smile was wrinkled and old but he looked so happy that Jason loved his gift. "Keep looking, Master Jason. There's more."

Jason looked back into the huge box to find a king sized pillow, extra fluffy. "Alfred you are literally the greatest human I've ever known," he exclaimed. "How did you know all my pillows are getting flat?"

"They always do, sir. You never fluff them."

Jason chuckled a bit to himself. Alfred was right. The old man had tried to hard to get Jason into the habit of fluffing his pillows when he was younger, simply because Jason was always complaining that his pillows would get flat. But he never liked to actually fluff them, he just wanted Bruce to buy him more. "Thank you, Alfred. Seriously."

That being the first time of the evening he had actually thanked anyone for his gifts, he moved on to the next present. This one was also a box, perfectly wrapped in yellow wrapping paper. Jason actually had no idea who this one was from so he checked the card. _From Damian_.

"I didn't get you anything, Todd," Damian said, pushing his nose up. And he was right, the handwriting wasn't Damian's. Briefly, Jason considered that maybe Alfred or Bruce had gotten something and claimed it was from the little brat. But the handwriting belonged to neither of them either.

Jason scrunched his eyebrows together. He looked around at everyone. The surrounding vigilantes shrugged in confusion, as if to say _'It's not from me!'_ His eyes settled once more on Damian, suspicious that the little twerp was lying, but not saying anything. He opened the gift regardless, and his eyes suddenly widened in amazement.

"Holy shit," he whispered.

The others around him looked concerned, save for Damian who was trying exceedingly hard to appear as if he didn't care. "What is it?" Roy asked.

Jason pulled the box out to reveal the newest laptop, the one he'd really wanted. He'd been saving up because the damn laptop was over $1,200. It was an eleven inch, 2-in-1 laptop with a touchscreen and one of the best processors out there. Some of the best civilian technology he could've gotten his hands on, and whoever got it for him wouldn't even let him properly thank them.

Bruce leaned over to Alfred. "Do you think it was him?" He whispered, just loud enough for the butler to hear.

Alfred nodded, his eyebrows raised in complete surprise. "It would explain a lot, sir. The detention slips being signed, the money in his account." Bruce smiled a bit at his son, but didn't say it aloud.

Waiting for someone to take credit, Jason looked around. Everyone shook their head, however. "Well, okay then." He placed the laptop back down on the cart and moved on to the next gift.

Sighing, Jason gave up and moved on to the next gift. This one was a small bag, not nearly as big as Dick's. It was also green like Stephanie's gift had been, with green tissue paper poking out the top. "Cass," Jason said with a small smile. Cassandra's gifts were always so thoughtful and simple. He pulled all the tissue paper out in one handful and his smile grew at the sight of the gift. "Candles from Cass," he said absentmindedly, pulling the candle from the bag and smelling it. It was entitled _warm pastry_ and it smelled like a bakery early in the morning. "This is exactly what I want my apartment to smell like."

Cassandra smiled and nodded, stuffing her hands in her hoodie pockets. "I figured you'd like that better than the was warmer," she said quietly.

"Well I just ended up turning the wax cubes into candles anyway," Jason grinned, eyeing her as he spoke. She chuckled a bit to herself and rolled her eyes.

He shook his head and placed the candle back in the bag. The next gift was wrapped in chevron white and baby blue. That was the same wrapping paper that had been on his Christmas gift. "Timmy, you're so predictable," Jason grinned, tossing the box up and down in his hands before settling it in his lap and opening it.

Within the box was a bunch of white tissue paper. Nestled in the tissue paper like a couple of pearls were three Lush bath bombs. One was light pink and had little stars all over it, one was white with blue and red spots in it, and one was lavender with the word _BOMB_ engraved on it. Jason smiled. "Honestly, Tim, how on earth did you know I like bath bombs?"

"It was kind of a gamble, really," Tim said, shrugging and smiling. "I figured as long as you didn't open mine first you'd be in a good enough mood to not return them." He walked over to Jason and pointed at the bombs. "This one is called Blackberry, this one Dragon's Egg, and this one Twilight. But also," He lifted the Dragon's Egg bomb up and pulled out two small white pieces of paper. "These are two tickets to see that new horror movie you wanted to see. I figured I'd take you for a birthday dinner."

Jason grinned. "Timmy, I appreciate the gesture, but I only think of you as a brother," he said, completely deadpan.

Suddenly, Tim was blushing. "No it wasn't supposed to be a date it's just a movie and dinner!" He exclaimed, talking unreasonable fast. "Why do you always act so homoerotic towards me? I don't understand."

Tim's face was bright red, almost the shade of the bath bomb he'd gotten for Jason. "That's why, Timmy. That's why." Jason laughed and clapped a hand on Tim's shoulder. "I'll definitely go on a date with you though. Free dinner."

Tim rolled his eyes and handed Jason his tickets. Jason laughed a bit longer as he put Tim's gift down and picked up a gift wrapped in Christmas wrapping paper. "No one is this unprepared, except Roy Harper."

Roy grinned. "You know me so well, Jaybird."

Jason opened it and saw a bottle of cheap whiskey. "Roy, why?" He asked, looking up at his best friend with an exasperated expression.

"Well," Roy responded, implying that he was about to launch into some long lecture about why he bought Jason cheap whiskey. "I was recently informed that since you were dead for three years, you only just turned 21 today. And everyone gets cheap liquor on their 21st birthday, Jay. It's tradition."

Despite the fact that Jason hated this particular brand of whiskey, and Roy knew that Jason hated this brand of whiskey, Jason laughed. "Thanks, buddy," he said, shaking his head as if he couldn't believe Roy would do something like that. Even though it was completely plausible. "I'm guessing you and Kori bought it together?"

Kori smiled. "It was his idea, and I bought it." She was very proud of herself, and Jason smiled back.

There were only two gifts left, each in envelopes. One was clearly from Barbara, it was a small, letter sized envelope with _Jason_ written in curly letters on the front. The redhead walked towards him as he picked that one up, resting her elbow on his shoulder and placing her chin on her forearm. She read her own card over his shoulder and watched as he found the $20 bill and the gift card that fell out of the card. He looked it over, it was for some bakery he'd never heard of. "That's where we got the cake," she said simply before kissing his cheek and walking away. There was the click of a camera and Barbara grinned at Roy as she passed him.

Now Jason was blushing as he put the pieces of paper back in the envelope. "Uh, thanks Babs."

Roy grinned and Dick choked a little on his drink at the way Jason was getting flustered. He showed Dick the photo he'd just snapped, depicting Jason with his dumb party hat on crooked and blush forming in his cheeks and Barbara looking so classy with her lips pressed against his cheek. His eyes were wide and flustered in the photo and Barbara's were closed, her puckered lips forming a grin.

Annoyed, Jason rubbed the back of his neck and picked up the last gift. An envelope from Bruce. "You always get me envelopes Bruce," he mentioned absentmindedly.

Bruce thought about it for a moment. "Yeah, I suppose the last gift I got you was in an envelope."

Alfred looked back and forth between the two men, slowly realizing when the last time Bruce had gotten something for Jason's birthday had been. His features dropped as he came to this realization, but Bruce nudged him and shook his head slightly. Jason didn't even seem to notice or care as he opened the envelope and pulled out a slim piece of paper. "Holy shit Bruce!"

"What?" said Roy, curious as to what it was.

Jason held up the piece of paper, showing that it was a check. "It's for five grand!" he exclaimed. His eyes were wide and his mouth ajar. He looked at Bruce with disbelief. "What is this for?" he asked.

Shrugging, Bruce said simply "I wanted you to have some _legally obtained_ money." He said it, knowing it was a touchy subject, but the corners of his mouth was quirked up just enough to let Jason know he meant it in jest. Jason looked at the older man in astonishment.

"Thanks, Bruce," he said, his voice sounding sincere for the first time that night.

Bruce smiled and said nothing in return, knowing it wasn't needed.

 _ ************LINE BREAKER!***********_

" _Jason! Get down from there!"_

 _Jason looked down past his shaggy black hair to see Bruce. He could see him in exquisite detail thanks to the fresh coat of wax Alfred had put on the floor. From the details on the bottoms of his shoes to the grey corduroys and black turtleneck he wore or the way his hair was perfectly slicked back except for that one hair he_ _always_ _missed. Or even the way his brows creased together in frustration at his newest houseguest._

 _The young boy chuckled a bit, swinging once more from his perch. Bruce knew the chandelier would hold him, after Dick had gotten in the habit of swinging from the chandelier he had learned to reinforce it. But that wasn't the point. "Jason, Alfred just cleaned up there. Come down."_

 _Alfred had just cleaned the chandelier. Jason had watched him, and promptly climbed up as soon as the butler stepped away. The freshly polished brass made it extra difficult to hang on, but Jay always enjoyed a challenge._

 _Still, Bruce was already mad. They were running late for the party._

 _Taking one last mighty swing, the young boy released his grip on the shining chandelier, landing on wobbly feet a mere arm's length away from his mentor._

 _Bruce scowled down at the boy, his arms crossed across his massive chest and his foot still tapping impatiently. As if he was waiting for Jason to apologize – which would never happen and they both knew it – or maybe for some kind of explanation. "Come on, Bruce," Jason said, jabbing Bruce with his elbow. "Can't a man have some fun on his birthday?"_

 _Now one of the Bat's eyebrows raised quizzically. "I would hardly count you as a man," he said, releasing some of the tension held in his crossed arms. "It's your 16_ _th_ _birthday, not your 30_ _th_ _."_

 _Jason rolled his eyes, fidgeting with his blazer and attempting to 'fix' his hair. Letting out a sigh, Bruce also found his eyes rolling as he moved towards his ward and adjusted his messy hair, saying "Here" as he did. The small boy looked disgruntled to say the least as Bruce fingered through each piece of hair, putting it back in place and then smoothing it all out._

 _"Besides," Bruce said, peering over his nose at Jason's scalp. "You will have fun, that's why I threw you this party."_

 _"More like your party that has my name on it," Jason mumbled under his breath. Again, Bruce Wayne's eyebrows creased at Jason's words._

 _He chose not to respond. It would be rude to argue with the boy on his birthday, after all. Instead, the last piece of hair finally in place, he slapped one hand down on Jason's shoulder and ushered him out the front door of the Manor. Outside awaited the sleek and shining Rolls Royce awaited them. Bruce had bought the newest model a few months ago, but Jason still preferred the 1960 design that sat on the gravel awaiting the two men._

 _Bruce watched his face light up as Alfred opened the door for him, something that never got old. Jason always overflowed with a special kind of excitement when they went out in the Rolls Royce. Something in his eyes always sparkled a certain way that warmed Bruce's soul._

 _The ride there was mostly quiet, until Bruce turned to Jason, his facial expression twisted in some strange mix of nerves, excitement, and genuine love. Deep inside Jason's chest, he felt a small swell of happiness with the way Bruce looked at him in that moment. "Since it's your birthday, I wanted to give you something." From within a cubby above Jason's head, Bruce revealed a yellow, clasped envelope._

 _Passing this envelope to Jason, Bruce's mouth hung open with words he wasn't sure how to say._

 _Part of him wanted to wait to open the envelope until they got there, but another part was dying of curiosity. The second part one, and Jason's fingers worked quickly to unclasp the envelope and reveal his first birthday gift. He pulled out a small stack of papers, a card, and a key. None of these objects were spectacular, until he looked closer at each one._

 _First, his attention was drawn to the card. It was a silly Hallmark card that Bruce could've bought at a dollar store anywhere. It had a photo of a small hand in a big hand on the front, and when you opened it there was curly font that read "happy birthday". But in sloppily written ink, Bruce had written all over almost the entire card._

" _Jason, I don't know how to express to you in words how happy Alfred and I are that you came into our lives six months ago. You are a joy to be around. I've enjoyed so much getting to know the wonderful person that you are and learning all the little things that make you who you are. Whether you're getting into trouble or nose deep in some book you found or hiding food around the house, you always find a way to make me smile. You are something our family desperately needed, and it was some stroke of luck that we found you and made you a part of this. Just know that even on my darkest days, when I seem the broodiest or the angriest, I love you, Jason._

 _-Bruce"_

 _By the time his eyes reached the last word of the heartfelt sentiment, Jason's mouth was agape. He'd never known Bruce could be capable of such kind and moving words. Looking up, he found he was at a loss for words. "I don't know what to say, Bruce," as the words left his mouth his hand went towards the back of his neck, awkwardly rubbing circles across the shortest hairs that grew there. "Thank you, it means a lot."_

 _Smiling, Bruce nodded. "Keep going, there's more."_

 _Jason looked back down to the stack of papers, reading the header for the paper on the top of the stack. Again, he looked up at Bruce, now with tears forming in his eyes. "Are… are these…"_

" _Yes. Adoption papers." Bruce reached across the seat and placed his hand on Jason's shoulder. "You've been with us for 6 months, you are a part of this family. It's time we made it official."_

 _Speechless once more, Jason practically jumped across the car and flung his arms around the older man's neck. After a moment, Bruce embraced his son in the hug, his massive arms taking up almost all of Jason's back. They sat there for a moment, Jason taking in the scent of Bruce's cologne and Bruce counting Jason's heartbeats underneath his fingertips. There was a bump in the road and finally, Jason pulled away from the hug. "You still have one more gift," Bruce pointed out as Jason climbed back into his own seat._

 _He held up the key in his fingertips, examining it closely. It wasn't the same key as the key to the Manor, and Jason hadn't ever seen it on Alfred's keyring. There weren't any safes that Jason hadn't seen the key for at least once. There was no key to the Batcave and even if there were Robin would most definitely have already gotten it._

 _In a moment of confusion, he looked back to Bruce with one eyebrow raised and his mouth just barely open, as if the words were still loading in his mouth._

 _Bruce chuckled before he explained, "Have you ever noticed the room on the second level that is almost exactly between the bathroom and your room?"_

" _The huge one with the cool windows? Yeah, but I thought it used to be your great aunt's room or something like that." Jason's turquoise eyes had now switched to admiring the brilliant silver key as he twirled it between his fingers, spinning it and twisting it so he could feel every curve and crevice._

 _Snatching the key out of the young boy's grasp, Bruce held it up between his index finger and his thumb so they both could examine it properly. "This key is for the new locks I placed on that door. This is the only key for that room. I have recently finished remodeling it, I added bookshelves that cover every wall and a few that come out of the floor. As well as a fireplace and a lounge area. There are only 200 books in this small library, but they are all your favorites as I have noticed them. If you look in the adoption papers, somewhere between the pages is a check for $2,000. This money is for new books to fill that library."_

 _Jason's mouth was agape once more, but this time he quirked up his lips into a smirk. "You really should teach a class on giving gifts, you know."_

 _Their laughter was heartfelt and husky, but was cut off as Alfred opened the door to the Rolls Royce. "We have arrived, Master Bruce."_

" _Just wait, Jason," Bruce said, stepping out of the vehicle and then offering his hand to Jason as he climbed out behind him. "The rest of your life, you're going to be treated right on your birthdays."_

 _ ************LINE BREAKER!************_

 **I know I'm a little bit late, but I wanted to write something in honor of my favorite character's birthday. And I had to add some angst in there.**

 **In case I was a bit too subtle, the flashback is supposed to be a few months before Jason dies. I don't know how accurate that is because there's like a million timelines, but in my head he dies a few months after turning 16.**

 **Gift ideas came from this post on tumblr that I found.**

 **post/ 149146240996/ i-know-its-a-little-late-but-can-we-get-some**

 **Take out the spaces**


End file.
